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@with gratte' latrnt @fitte THOMAS N. DIOKINSON AND WILLIAM E. BEAMES.

Leners Paten; No. 79,712, ma Juzg 7 186s.

IMPROVEMENT 1N THE MANUrnerinni or rtoonletorn.

@ttt rlunrhnle wenn tu in Ihre intim ttent mit mating niet nf tigesaure.

To ALL WHOM ITMAY coNenRN:

Be it'known that 1I, JOHN H. WILLIAMS, of Essen, county o f Middlesex,and State of Connecticut, have invented anew anduseful Improvenientinthe Method of Covering or Painting Floor-Cloth; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accom-Y panying drawings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon; said drawings constitute part of thisspeciiieation,A and represent, in-`,

Figure 1, the side view of my improvement.

Figure 2, a plan view of the same. i.

Figure 3 is a eross-section, showing the spring-plates open for thereception of the cloth.

Figure 4 is a cross-section, showing the'spring-plates drawn togetherand cloth inserted.l

Similar letters of reference, when they occur in the dilferent views,indicate like parts.

My invention relates tol an improvement in the method or manner ofmechanically lling, covering, or painting Hoor-cloth, and consists of amachine in which the cloth', after -being passed through tho paint, iscarried between 01' under one ormore sets of spring-plates, or theirequivalents, which press the paint into the cloth, and also give it apeculiarly smooth surface; whereas, inthe method now used for thuspreparing floor-cloth,

a great amount of time and-labor has to be expended uponthe cloth afterit is lled or painted, to obtain the proper smoothness of surface toallow of its being printed and nished.

To enable others skilled in the art to 'make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe the construction and operation ofthe same. I y

A is a vat or trough, in which the paint, after heingl properlyprepared, is contained. Held in movable bearings, and slidingvertieallyin the same trough A, a roll, B, is'placed, the `object of which istoimmerse the cloth in the paint.-

C C are two spring-plates, or their equivalents, constructed of steel,or other suitable material, arranged to swing, or otherwise, asconvenient, and adjustedor drawn together by means of thumb-screws,a,ror other con- 4venient devices, betweenwhich lsaid plates the clothpasses` after leaving the vat or trough A, the object of these platesbeing to regulate the amount or quantity of paint upon the cloth, anddistribute 4the same evenly over the surface, notwithstanding theunevenness of said cloth.

D D are two spring-plates, or their equivalents. The lower'of saidplates is held stationary, or otherwise convenient; the upper one swingson hearingfs, and is operated or pressed down upon the under plate bymeans of lever Z), or other convenient device. Between these'two platesthe cloth-is passed in 'order to smooth and polish the same.- n

Thisgeempletesthe construction of my'improvement. The operation is asfollows:

First, the requisite amount of properly-prepared4 paint is placed in thevat or trough A; the cloth is then introduced and passed under therollB, to allow-of which, the said roll is raised'ahove the surface ofthepaint, as shown in'lig. 3. .The said roll is then lowered to asufiicien't depth in the vat or trough to thoroughly immerse the'clothin the paint. fter this the cloth is drawn, first between thetwospring-plates C C, said plates being brought together by means of thethumblscrews a, and pressed against the cloth, which give them thecurve, as shown in fig. 4. This curve in these plates gives the cloth,as it passes, apeeuliar drawing-pressure, andinstead of simply-scrapingthe paint 'from thesurfaCe, ldistributes it evenly over it,`withoutregard tothe unevenness of the cloth, After the cloth has passed betweenthe two said plates, C C, it is drawn forward over the roll and betweenthe other set of plates D D. These said plates are similar to the saidplates C C, exceptjhat they Aare made longer, for the reason thatthey're intended for smoothing and finishing the surface instead ofremoving the superfluous quantity of 'paint therefrom. These plates maybe pressed together and against the cloth by means of lever b, o r otherconvenient dev iec, as shown in iig. 4.

A great advantage of 'these spring-plates is, that when any unevenness,wherever it may occur in the cloth that passes between them, thepsaidspring-.plates adjust themselves to it in that particular place, whileall around it the surface will be as smooth as if it had been perfectlyeven whereas, ina smoother which is held without a spring, theunevenness is either torn away orelse lthe smoother, in being raised toclear it, make a ridge or.

uneven place the whole width .of the cloth, which has to be smoothedbefore the cloth can be painted.

The peculiar advantage, however, is the curving of the plates, by whichthe cloth,'as it passes, is given a drawing or ysmoothing motion,similar-to that given-to plaster by a trowel. V

I amaware that'thi's curvature .may be given to a rigid lsurface of`metal or wood, and may be used to advantage in the place of the springsherein described, but as this curvature renders their action similar,`as far as the drawing-pressure is concerned, to'the springplates, I havenot considered it necessary to describe any-other particular method ofconstruction.

Ido not conne myself exclusively tothe'luse: of springs, or any number'of springs, between which the y cloth passes, for if one sido of saidcloth is to be nished,'only one plate will be required. This plate willbe vconstructed and operated in the same manner as those described, thecloth resting. the opposite side upon a roller or plain' surface. v

4Having thus fully describediny invention, what I claim asfncw anduseful, and desireV to secure by Letters Patent, is y '1. Thespring-plates C O, or their equivalents, for distributing the paintevenly over the surface of the cloth', and also removel the extra amountof the same, substantially in the manner andfor the purposespecied.

2. The spring-platesl) D`,'or their equivalents, as a smoothing-device,for the purpose of inishing the cloth', `substantially as hereindescribed. x s,

3. '.lhje peculiar" curve of the plates herein described, whenincperaticm,l constructed of springs, or their equivalents, to give thesmooth and polished surface to the' cloth as it passes'through themachine, in the manner described and for the'purpiose speciiied.

' JOHN H. WILLIAMS. Witnesses:

E. A. SMITH," y

FRANK Pnnsco'rr.'

